Culinary says strike would hurt economy

Tuesday, May 14, 2002 | 2:10 a.m.

If workers strike Las Vegas hotels, the gaming industry could see a 10 percent drop in revenue, causing additional post-Sept. 11 budget shortfalls for the state, Culinary Union leaders warned Monday.

Union leaders plan to tell the Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy Wednesday that a significant decline in business on the Strip will mean less tax revenue for the state, which is struggling to balance its budget in the aftermath of last year's terrorist attacks.

The presentation will be made one day before union members meet to authorize a strike if a new collective bargaining agreement with 35 casinos can't be reached by May 31.

"We want everybody to understand the implications for state revenue," Glen Arnodo, the union's political director, said Monday. "This is an issue that affects not just our members, not just the employers, not just Las Vegas, but the entire state of Nevada."

But Mike Sloan, a senior vice president at Mandalay Resort Group and a member of the task force, accused the union of using the tax panel to further its negotiating position.

"They seem oblivious to the decline in revenues since Sept. 11 while asking for the largest increase in benefits in the history of our collective bargaining relationship," Sloan said.

"I'd like to ask them to explain why they're calling a strike vote ... if they recognize that hurting the Las Vegas economy is in no one's interest."

Culinary Research Director Courtney Alexander said the casino industry likely would suffer lost revenues similar to the bitter 1984 strike. Business fell off by 9.6 percent on the Strip and 10.3 percent downtown the first month of the walkout, she said.

A comparable drop in business occurred within the first two months of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, Alexander added. Gaming revenues on the Strip declined by 10.6 percent in October and then 11.9 percent in November.

"We're laying these figures out so that the people who deal with the budget can have some sense of what to expect," Alexander said.

One of those people, Gov. Kenny Guinn, said Monday he's concerned about adding to the current budget crunch.

"Those kinds of percentages would have a dramatic impact on our sources of revenue," Guinn said. "We're already in a very fragile position in Nevada because of Sept. 11."

Guinn said he has been forced to cut nearly $250 million from the budget over the current and next fiscal years because of a post-Sept. 11 decline in gaming and sales taxes.

The governor urged both sides to reach a deal.

"I would hope the two groups will come together and bring about an agreement that will allow us to fight our already slumping revenues," he said.

The two sides, however, continued to prepare for a possible strike.

Union leaders were working to turn out a large crowd, as many as 15,000 to 20,000 of its 50,000 members, for Thursday's strike authorization vote at the Thomas & Mack Center. Two voting sessions are planned, one at 10 a.m. and another at 6 p.m.

A flier was sent out to members this week touting the importance of the strike vote in preserving their free health care insurance.

Casino marketing directors, meanwhile, were preparing to meet Thursday with executives from Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to discuss how to coordinate the flow of information to the public during a strike.

Advertising executive Billy Vassiliadis, who oversees the LVCVA's annual $50 million marketing budget, said the tourism agency will serve as a clearing house of information as it did during the 1984 strike.

"Our job has got to be as objectively as possible to make sure that conventioneers and travelers are getting up-to-date and accurate information," he said.

Vassiliadis, president of R & R Partners advertising firm, said the LVCVA likely would pull its regular advertising and run informational ads if a strike occurs.